Spellshift (Spellsaga Book 2) by Allen Snell

Author:Allen Snell [Snell, Allen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-12-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 20

The morning meal with Karna was abnormally quiet. Garen tried to ignore the feeling of tension and enjoy the eggs and sweetcakes. He didn’t realize how spoiled his appetites had become until Vikar-Tola fell. A year ago on his own, he was doing the exact same thing Karna usually survived on—occasional trips into town and boiling the cheapest meats and vegetables into a soup that would last for days.

With Garen’s idle hands at her cabin, he had plenty of chances to hunt, forage, or make trips to Russyx. Karna had no shortage of Jundux coin, so they’d dined rather frivolously. As ready as he was to rejoin his friends, he had to admit, this was a good life. Some days it even felt like a normal life under the roof of a blood relative. A wave of sadness that he would likely never return hit him. He noticed a remarkably similar expression on Karna as she stared out the tiny window next to the table.

Garen let out a deep breath. “I’m really going to miss—”

“Oh, stop it. I need your sympathy like I need a new home.”

Garen glanced around the cozy cabin in confusion. The space seemed fine. Then he understood her disregard. “I’m not saying it for you. I’m saying I’ll miss this. It’s weird.”

Karna’s usual squint narrowed into even more of a glare.

“You know the difference,” Garen said. “Life is chaotic as a Spellsword. I like it. I’m ready to go back. But before this, I don’t think I appreciated the alternative. You just do what you want and live. I guess that’s what we’re fighting for. Making it so people can have a life like yours.”

“You’re sweet,” Karna said softly. “But you still see the world a little too black-and-white. Even a content old bat like me needs a purpose. A little chaos can be a good thing. They aren’t two ways of life. They’re extremes. We’re probably happiest in the middle.”

“Well then,” Garen said, raising his clay mug, “here’s hoping I find the balance someday.” He chugged the rest of his tea in giant gulps and swung it back down loudly.

“You have a long way to go after a disgrace like that,” Karna said, with a peaceful sip. “But I’m grateful your boundless nagging pulled me a little ways toward the center.”

Garen opened his eyes wide and smiled. “You are dangerously close to saying the words ‘thank you,’ and I’d rather we wrap things up before it changes our entire relationship.”

Karna laughed, and for possibly the first time, it wasn’t unsettling for him. She found joy in something other than his suffering, and he was happy to have caused it. “Fine. You’re not ready, but at least you’re less of an idiot than when you started. It’s time that you saw how I separated the spirits firsthand.”

“Remind me how old you are?” Garen asked, creating the intended glare. “Because I don’t know if we have time for me to search through all those years.”

“I’ll be guiding you.

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